Life Letters.
Weekly words on building a life you don’t need to escape from.
From building businesses, travelling until I run out of money, writing a book, playing in a band, and thinking unnecessarily deeply about so many things, 2025 has been f*cked (in the best way).
I tried to put it into a sentence while sitting in my office.
I put down random words across my whiteboard trying to encapsulate the simplest goal behind everything I’ve been doing.
Deep exploration… freedom… travel… passion… meaning…
And then I realised what it was. I wrote:
I just want to get paid to be myself.
Paid to be you.
I think that’s what I’d been searching for from the start. I think it’s why I wrote a book, why I post content online and why I do mentoring.
And beyond that, I want to be paid to grow. To develop, challenge, break and test myself so many times in order to walk the talk of personal growth and “The 3rd Path”.
So what’s your sentence? What is it you’ve been searching for this whole time?
Maybe it’s to get paid to be you too. Maybe it’s something else. But before the year turns, do me a favour and roll out a whiteboard, or take out some scrap paper, and try this:
Write down the values of a “good life” in your eyes. (eg; freedom, family, discipline)
Write down the words that describe how you want to feel every day. (eg; love, peace, excitement)
Write down the name of the chapter of life you are in at the moment (eg; discovery, triumph, mystery, challenge, confusion, becoming)
Write these all over the board/paper in no particular order, and take a step back.
At the heart of all these words, what’s the undercurrent? What’s the goal? What do you care about?
It might come to you straight away, or in a day, or a week. I think it’s worth doing.
May your 2026 be just as challenging, if not more so than this year - because challenge is the most amazing opportunity for us to change and grow.
Cheers to the journey of getting paid to be you.
BTW - I help people just like you build their own “Paid to be you” business. If you want me to help you create that in 8 weeks, lets have a call: [click me]
I made another youtube video:
BTS of creating a Paid to be you biz, going to a random Aussie island, and working a lot.
You can read my book The 3rd Path here [click me]
Enjoy the journey,
Sam.
Sam Witness is a filmmaker, mentor, and creator who helps young people escape the University Tunnel and design lives of freedom, creativity, and purpose.
After dropping out of university at 20 with no plan — just a camera and a calling — Sam turned his passion into a global movement inspiring thousands to choose a different path. Through his videos, writing, and mentorship, he equips young adults to ditch the script and build a life that’s truly their own.
Creating a “3rd Path” is his deepest mission — a rallying cry for those who were never meant to fit in.
